Guess it depends on what the meaning of "hot" is.
Posted on 11/08/2002 5:58:54 AM PST by jerod
WASHINGTON (AP) - Rep. Harold Ford on Friday threw his name into the mix of Democrats vying to succeed House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt in the wake of the party's election losses. "I recognize that I am an underdog because I'm starting out late," said Ford. But the Tennessee Democrat also said "there's a real yearning and a real appetite for change in the party."
Ford made the announcement in an interview Friday morning on the nationally syndicated Don Imus morning radio show.
Two other House veterans, Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Martin Frost, had jumped into the race Thursday and immediately began jabbing at each other over the future of a party reeling from midterm election losses.
Ford said Friday he thought both represented a leadership style that the party needs to change.
"I think my colleagues on the Democratic side are interested in radical change and, if they are, I submit that my candidacy and my leadership would offer that change," Ford said. "It would be not only me, but a whole new generation of leadership."
Earlier, Frost had taken on Pelosi.
"I think that her politics are to the left, and I think that the party, to be successful, must speak to the broad center of the country," said Frost, a Texan whose rival represents most of San Francisco.
Pelosi, judged by party officials to be the front-runner in the race, sidestepped the attack and turned her fire on the GOP instead. "We must draw clear distinctions between our vision of the future and the extreme policies put forward by the Republicans," she said in a statement. "We cannot allow Republicans to pretend they share our values and then legislate against those values without consequence."
In the interview, Ford said he thought that both Frost and Pelosi "represent much of what we've had in the past."
" ... If we're serious about moving forward, a team that I would assemble could accomplish a lot," the congressman said, adding that "it might be time for a clean break from the ways of the past."
Frost and Pelosi had begun their bids to become the party's House leader after Gephardt told members of the rank-and-file that he would not seek another term in the job he has held for eight years.
Ford is among 36 black voting House members who belong to the Congressional Black Caucus. Two others are non-voting delegates from the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands. Rep. J.C. Watts of Oklahoma, the lone black Republican in the House, chose not to run for re-election.
Ford, 32, was elected this week to his fourth term in the House. He succeeded his father, Harold Ford Sr. in representing the Memphis area. Last year, the younger Ford was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by "People" magazine. He serves on the House Education and Workforce and Government Reform committees and was keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2000.
Gephardt told party members Thursday that "it's time for me personally to take a different direction ... and take on this president and the Republican Party from a different vantage point." His remarks pointed toward a possible campaign for the White House in 2004.
Later, in an interview in the Capitol office he soon will vacate, the Missouri Democrat said he intends to take the oath of office for a new term next month and has no firm plans beyond that. "I'll look at running for president. I've done it before and I know a lot about it," he said of his unsuccessful 1988 campaign for the Democratic nomination.
While Pelosi, 62, and Frost, 60, have served side by side for years, they have charted different courses in the House, and have taken different positions on recent high-profile issues.
Pelosi, who is her party's senior member on the intelligence committee, voted against legislation that authorized President Bush to use force against Saddam Hussein in Iraq. Frost supported it.
Frost, a former party campaign chairman, was a late, reluctant recruit to the battle for legislation to reduce the role of money in politics, expressing concern about the impact of the law on the party's ability to compete for funds with Republicans. One of Pelosi's first successes as party whip was to round up enough votes to pass the measure.
On another key issue this year, though, the leadership rivals both voted against legislation strengthening Bush's ability to negotiate international trade deals.
Several party aides said Pelosi, who won an eighth term from her California district this week, begins the leadership race as the favorite.
She prevailed a year ago in a competition to become the party's whip, and represents a state that will have 33 Democrats in the House next year.
Additionally, Pelosi is likely to begin with the support of many Democratic liberals, and of several Democratic women, as she bids to become the first female leader of either party in either house of Congress.
Frost was elected from his Dallas-area district for a 13th term on Tuesday.
AP-ES-11-08-02 0757EST
THE DUMB-O-CRAT LEADERSHIP
I don't know about Ford Jr., but having been a college student in Memphis in the 70's I can certainly recall having heard plenty of tales of good ol' dad's corruption.
She is one hot 62 year old--Go Nancy!(and her daughter is cute too) Hey, did anyone see "Journeys With George (W)" on HBO on election night? What did you think of it? (I dont get HBO)
Jesse Jackson, Jr. Maxine Waters, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Alcee Hastings would be great choices also.
Guess it depends on what the meaning of "hot" is.
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